Balloons released outside of Oxford Crown Court in memory of eight-year-old Anum Khan and 15-year-old Majid Khan, who were killed in the 1997 house fire.

JUDGE'S REMARKS - Mr Justice Robin Spencer

I have to sentence you for your part in causing the death of two children, seventeen years ago in 1997. They were asleep in their family home in Oxford when the house was deliberately set on fire shortly after 3 o’clock in the morning. There could easily have been more deaths. Another five occupants of the house managed to escape with comparatively minor physical injuries. But the psychological and emotional scars of that night will remain with them and with every member the family for ever.

Anum was only 8 years old. Majid was only 15 years old. They were the youngest children of the family. In their short lives they brought great joy and happiness to their parents and to their brother and sisters. I have read in full the harrowing victim personal statements made by members of the family. Those moving statements reveal very clearly the depths of the sadness and desolation the family felt and still feel at the loss of these two precious much loved children. Those feelings are as raw now as they were 17 years ago. No sentence I can pass will ease that pain.

Ipsoregulated

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